Instructions for Authors

Preparing for submission

Please refer to the information provided below as well as the submission preparation checklist to be sure that you have conformed to the requirements before beginning the submission process. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. 

Please note that the submitting author will be the principal contact for editorial correspondence, throughout the peer review and proofreading process, if applicable.

Plagiarism Detection

SAPS Journal uses Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) to screen all submissions for plagiarism before publication, but authors, researchers and freelancers can also use iThenticate to screen their work before submission by visiting http://research.ithenticate.com.

Manuscript preparation

Language All articles should be written in English - British or American as long as consistency is observed. SI units should be used. Please subject the manuscript to professional language editing before submitting the final version if you are not a native speaker. A list of services can be found here.

Acknowledgements All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an acknowledgments section of the title page, i.e. not listed in the main manuscript.  Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chairperson who provided only general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged. 

Conflict of interest and funding Authors are responsible for disclosing financial support from the industry or other conflicts of interest that might bias the interpretation of results. All submitted manuscripts must include a ‘Conflict of interests and finding’ section listing all competing interests (financial and non-financial). If no competing interests exist, please state in this section, "The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest". 

Publication Fee

At present, the publication of an article in SAPS Journal is free of charge. 

Withdrawal of Manuscript  

If you withdraw your manuscript after it has been typeset (but not yet published) you will be charged according to the following: EUR 40/USD 45 per typeset page 

Manuscript Layout

Wherever possible, the paper should follow the traditional layout: introduction (background motivation, problem identification and a short literature survey), materials and methods,  results and discussion and conclusionsLine numbers should be used.

Begin each section, including figure and table legends, on separate sheets; insert running page numbers. Line numbers should also be inserted.

All submitted manuscripts must be set up in 1-column, 12 point font and double-spaced.

Title page Organize the title page in the following way: 1) title of manuscript, 2) name of author(s), 3) name of department(s) and institution(s),  4) name and full postal and email address of the corresponding author who also acts as 'Guarantor' for all parts of the paper and 5) Acknowledgements. Note that the Title page will be submitted separately and separated from the main manuscript. Neither author details nor Acknowledgements should be included in the main manuscript since the journal adheres a double-blind peer review.

The title should be informative and accurate and at the same time trigger the interest of the reader. A short running head will be derived from the title to appear on each page of the paper.

Abstract Articles must include a structured abstract of 200-300 words. The abstract should be able to provide sufficient information for a reader to be able to decide whether or not to proceed to the full text of the article. The abstract should be structured in the following way: Background, Objective, Design, Results, Discussion, Conclusions. After the abstract, please give 5-10 key words; avoid using the same words as in the title.

Section headings Please do not number section headings. Use a maximum of three levels of headings made clear by orthographic indicators, i.e. capitals, italics, bold etc.

References Number the references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in the text by arabic numerals and in parentheses [e.g. (14)]. References should follow the standard biomedical format (so-called Vancouver style), recommended by ICJME. DOI numbers must be included where available. 

Information from papers in manuscript but not yet accepted should be cited in the text as 'unpublished observation(s)' or 'personal communication'.

For a key of how to abbreviate journal names, please consult the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus, accessible at http://www.nlm.nih.gov

Some sources and documents are available in print, but also reproduced electronically for wide dissemination—government publications are an obvious example. If you use the electronic version of such a document, please give the URL and date on which you last accessed the electronic file to the citation.

Books and journals

Journals

  1. More than six authors: Montlahuc C, Julia C, Touvier M, Fezeu L, Hercberg S, Galan P, et al. Association between dietary polyphenols intake and an oxidative stress biomarker: interest of multiple imputation for handling missing covariates and outcomes . BMC Nutrition. 2016;2: 71. doi: 10.1186/s40795-016-0114-2.
  2. Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle

Books

  1. Bandura A. Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1986.
  2. Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, eds. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996.
  3. Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, eds. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.